Bücher der Reihe The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies

THAT'S RIGHT. THE LOST FILMS IS BACK. And like a Heisei era Godzilla foe, it’s mutated into its second, bigger, badder form. And it’s got it all: Adam West battling the Big G in BATMAN MEETS GODZILLA? Check. A DAIMAJIN remake starring Steven Seagal? It almost happened. Ultraman teaming with a monkey monster in Thailand’s 6 ULTRA BROTHERS VS. THE MONSTER ARMY? Yep, it exists—even if Tsuburaya Productions wishes it didn’t. This book covers:Unproduced scripts like BRIDE OF GODZILLA? (1955), GAMERA VS. THE ICE MEN FROM OUTER SPACE (1966), ULTRAMAN: OPERATION GIANT (1966), OPERATION ROBINSON CRUSOE: KING KONG VS. EBIRAH (1966), GAMERA VS. TWO-HEADED MONSTER W (1971), THE TIME MACHINE II (1979), GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS IN 3-D (1983), IT ATE CLEVELAND! (1984), COO FROM A DISTANT SEA (1989), MOTHRA VS. BAGAN (1990), GAMERA VS. PHOENIX (1993), GODZILLA VS. GHOST GODZILLA (1995), YAMATO TAKERU 2 (1997), and HEDORAH VS. MIDORA (2017). Films that came close to shooting like THE VOLCANO MONSTERS (1957), which Toho produced new monster suits for, and NESSIE (1976-1979)—an aborted team-up between Hammer and Toho that sunk itself in the seventies. Partially shot productions such as Daiei’s GIANT HORDE BEAST NEZURA (1963), which had to be shut down when real rats overran the studio. Banned films like ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN (1955), GREAT PROPHECIES OF NOSTRADAMUS (1974), and JUMBORG ACE AND GIANT (1974). Fan films like the ambitious, still in production LEGENDARY GIANT BEAST WOLFMAN VS. GODZILLA (1983-present) and GAMERA 4: TRUTH (2003). Oddities like the Italian colorized version of GODZILLA (1978) codenamed “COZZILLA” and even ATTACK OF THE GALACTIC MONSTERS (1983) and SPACE WARRIORS 2000 (1985)! 

From the 1950s onwards, far eastern filmmakers from Japan, China, and Korea—but mostly Japan—cranked out a bevy of dai kaiju (“giant strange beast”) movies. This guidebook covers not only all the Godzilla and Gamera movies produced during Japan’s Showa Era (1954-1989), but also offshoots like Yongary, Monster From the Deep (1967), Agon, the Atomic Dragon (1968), Daigoro vs. Goliath (1972), Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (1977), and more! Also covered are a bevy of famous tokusatsu (“special effects”) films like Invisible Man vs. the Human Fly (1957), Submersion of Japan (1973), and Virus (1980). From classics like King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) to obscure rarities like 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army (1974), this book has got it all!

Think The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films turned over every stone and revealed every surprise known to man? Think again. In the great tradition of the inevitable sequel delve into yet more unproduced scripts from the Land of the Rising Sun. Witness the confrontation between Mizuno the Gas Human and the Frankenstein monster in Frankenstein vs. the Human Vapor. Marvel at the Human Torch, which was both an attempt to revive Toho’s mutant films and also a stylistic continuation of the Bloodthirsty Trilogy. Thrill to the adventures of the Super Noah in The Flying Battleship which turned into TV’s Mighty Jack. Puzzle at an adaptation of Sakyo Komatsu's post-apocalyptic thriller Japanese Apache starring the Crazy Cats. And, finally find out what happens After Japan Sinks! Also detailed are completed lost films like Shinichi Sekizawa’s Fearful Attack of the Flying Saucers (1956) plus reviews of rare movies like Invisible Avenger (1954), Buruuba (1955), Woman Vampire (1959) and Blue Christmas (1978) to name only a few.